James Massola is South-east Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media. He was previously chief political correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. He is the winner of a Quill award for investigative journalism and was on the ground at Tham Luang cave for the rescue operation.
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An utterly inspiring talk @frontlineclub about the Afghan women judges who fled the Taliban and those they left behind. Karen Bartlett interviews Fawzia Amini and Anisa Dhanji about their struggle to save these women and the work still left to do.
The full story: Afghanistan appointed its first woman judge in 1969. In the intervening years, the status and safety of Afghan women has been shockingly volatile. The late 70s saw the rise of the mujahedeen when women’s rights were eroded, followed by a period of political instability in the late 80s when female judges had the chance to work again. The Taliban seized power in the mid-90s and imposed a strict Islamic regime under which women suffered unspeakable brutality. The aftermath of 9/11 ushered in a new democratic government and in the following two decades, Afghan women obtained legal degrees, became judges and set out to transform their country - tackling corruption, and reducing horrifying levels of violence against women and children. These educated and powerful women led the mission to build a modern democracy that respected the rule of law and human rights. However, the catastrophic withdrawal of Western forces in August 2021 placed the women judges of Afghanistan in mortal danger.
Afghan women judges symbolised everything the Taliban despised and feared. Without help, the judges knew the Taliban would hunt them down and kill them. This is a remarkable, never-before-told account of how a global network of female judges created a support group, working round-the-clock to help many Afghan women judges and their families escape. The heart-stopping stories of their journeys and the shocking fates of those unable to get out are documented by the best-selling veteran journalist, Karen Bartlett. She had unique access to many of the women involved, including those in exile and the judges still trapped in Afghanistan, as well as the women judges from other parts of the world who were vital to the escape effort.
Karen Bartlett’s book The Escape from Kabul is a searing testimony to the extraordinary power of women – those trapped in the most hostile of conditions and those desperately trying to help them.
You can read a fabulous extract from A Splintering by @dureamna on @wearebookanista! Here is a teaser for you...
🎉 Happy Publication Day 🎉
Dur e Aziz Amna’s A Splintering is out now — an unforgettable story of motherhood, obsession and ambition.
✨ “Smart and gripping – I read it in one sitting” – Kamila Shamsie
✨ “A lacerating novel… great insight and deep compassion” – Mohsin Hamid
Set against an oppressive backdrop of political violence and natural disaster, A Splintering traces the class struggle of a woman stuck between province and metropolis, motherhood and ambition.
🔥 Gripping, disquieting, and impossible to put down.
📚 A Splintering is available today!
#literaryfiction #bookstagram
The Crack has chosen A Splintering as their book of the month🥳🥳
Perfect timing too... A Splintering is OUT tomorrow
#bookstagram #books #asplintering #literaryfiction
Check out this incredible review of A Splintering by @dureamna in The Sunday Times 📰🥳
💬Amna is a witty and spiky writer and A Splintering is a blistering portrayal of a woman unwilling to accept life’s unfairness. Despite Tara’s greed and cruelty, her disdain for the restraints of her society is mesmerising. As her schemes to escape get wilder, you urge her on💬
Out 4th September!!
✨ They’re here! ✨ Fresh from the printers: the very first proof reader copies of I’ll Be the Monster by Sean Gilbert.
Aren’t they gorgeous? Who’s excited to get their hands on a copy.. we will be choosing a select group of book bloggers. Like and leave a comment below if you are interested⬇️
A homicidal couple go on a luxury holiday to save their marriage… need I say more?
Publishing 12 February 2026. 🖤 p.s thanks to everyone who has expressed interest so far, we are collecting a list of book bloggers and noting down their details and will announce who has been chosen to receive a copy soon!
#IllBeTheMonster #SeanGilbert #ProofCopies #Bookstagram #ComingSoon
✨ The Escape from Kabul by Karen Bartlett OUT NOW! ✨
A gripping story of rescue, survival and female solidarity.
In the twenty years since 2001, Afghan women obtained legal degrees, became judges and set out to transform their country – tackling corruption, and reducing horrifying levels of violence against women and children. These educated and powerful women led the mission to build a modern democracy. However, when Western forces withdrew in August 2021, the women judges of Afghanistan and their families faced mortal danger.
The Escape from Kabul is the never-before-told story of the escape of nearly 200 women and their families, thanks to a network of professional friends, female judges and lawyers from around the world, who refused to abandon them to the Taliban.
A searing insight into the challenges of safely building a new life overseas and also the captive fate of women in Afghanistan. 📚
Ready for the new Bundesliga season? 🇩🇪 ⚽
The new and updated edition of PLAYED IN GERMANY is out today – grab your copy!
Thinking about TS12 and DUET by Eleanor Chan 🎶
“A sensational book. Chan roves across her vast subject with confidence and grace, thrilling the reader with one eye-opening insight after another. I will never see art, and hear music, in quite the same way again.” James Fox, author of The World According to Colour
Out 18th September, available for pre-order now 💘
📚✨ Two electrifying voices in fiction — one unforgettable evening
Join Dur e Aziz Amna (A Splintering, BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick) & Gurnaik Johal (Saraswati, Observer Best Debut 2025) in conversation at Waterstones Gower Street, London.
🗓 Wed 22 Oct 2025, 6:30pm
🎟 From £7 – book now before it sells out!
#ASplintering #Saraswati #DureAzizAmna #GurnaikJohal #WaterstonesEvents
SPIDER, SPIDER by @libbythescribbler
Jet-black and thrilling, Spider, Spider is an unforgettable tale of a woman who has lost herself in the poison of vengeance, and the knife-sharp girl who might just bring her back.
Coming March 2026, available for pre-order now 🕸️
I’LL BE THE MONSTER by @seangilbertwrites
“The college bars were shuttered. Parties banned. Suicide watch was the new normal. And yet, outside, the air was sweet. Trees exploded in white and pink. Birds sang through long, pastel dusks. When I think of that time, I think of pale skin and outrageous blossoms. I think of choices.”
Sean Gilbert’s razor-sharp debut, coming February 2026 🍽️
Available for pre-order now.
